22/09/2026
Lenormand - why the Birds card is not chatter to Traditional readers ….
Most modern lists will tell you Birds means gossip, chatter, a phone call, a meeting, twins, anxiety, “lots of little things.”
Traditional readers look at the same card and see hard work.
That is not us being difficult. That is the original instruction.
“Birds, near the Person are bringers of great effort and burden, but of short duration. Far from the person, this card is the sign of a happy trip.”
Near the significator: effort. Burden. Work / effort that does not last forever, but it is indeed effort.
Far from the person: a happy trip — the same travel note you already find in the 1799 Game of Hope.
the instruction does not say: talking. Messages. Social media. The neighbour leaning over the fence. So, we build our meanings from the original instruction rather than the symbology of what a bird does or means to us.
We already have cards for chatter.
Rider — something arriving. News. A message coming in.
Letter — all kinds of communication, including the chatter people keep pinning on Birds.
Whip — the row. The nasty word. The conversation that leaves a mark.
Traditional readers believe that Lenormand does not need a fourth communication card. It does need a card for manual labour, graft, and the physical weight of a job. Birds is that card.
This is the whole argument between modern and traditional reading in one scoop. Modern lists grow by association (“birds tweet, therefore communication”) this is assigning a symbol (like Tarot). Traditional readers start with the historic instruction, then build a working vocabulary from that this is assigning an emblem (the Lenormand deck is emblematic).
Same deck. Different toolbelt.
No right or wrong in this - just a different toolbelt!!
Want to learn more about our differences? The Traditional Lenormand conference is on the 14th and 15th November, hosted by
